The right care means chiefly protecting the young poults from cold or 

 damp, especially from wet grass and from insect vermin. Timbered land 

 where there is not much underbrush is tlie finest for raising young poults, 

 or pasture land where the grass is short and there arc plenty of insccls lo 

 be picked up. A flock of turkeys would benefit any farm by the amount of 

 worms, grasshoppers, etc., thus destroyed. Right care includes also givirg 

 turkeys goodj free range. These birds are still half wild and they will not 

 thrive under the conditions that are ordinarily successful with domestic 

 fowls. They grow very nervous and restless when too closely confined. If 

 you are in the business for profit the right way' is to give the turkeys plenty 

 of good range, where they can get abundant natural food by foraging for 

 themselves. But at the same time you must give them a nice grain feed every 

 night as this will guarantee their return home to roost. Corn is the best 

 grain, but you should add occasionally some wheat, oats or peas, as corn 

 alone is too fattening. Since the turkeys will roost in the open air, however, 

 they can stand this rich grain, as it keeps them warm while in the open. The 

 rule is to feed a little at a time, but to feed often. A grain and insect diet 

 suits them to a T. The young poults will begin to feed themselves just as 

 soon as they are out of the shell. In the natural state they live almost en- 

 tirely on the insects and berries they pick up. 



Pretty nearly the whole problem in turkey raising is to start right with 

 the poults. For while the grown birds are extremely hardy, the poults are 

 the tenderest of all poultry to care for. Watch them carefully up to the 

 time when they get their first plumage and "throw the red," that is show 

 their combs. After that they are easy to manage with the two main cautions 

 already stated. 



The young poult should be fed the first two weeks a crumbly mixture 

 of bread and milk and pot cheese, or curd — about one-fourth should be the 

 cheese. Add to this a little chopped onion. Two or three times a day give 

 the little poults all of this they will eat up clean and at least once a day 

 give them some finely cracked corn, mixed with wheat and oatmeal, equal 

 parts by weight. After the second week, increase this grain ration, ■ and 

 also give more of the pot cheese, cutting down the bread and milk in the 

 ration; Pot cheese is considered better than beef scrap for turkeys, although,- 

 of course, beef scrap is a valuable article for them. Of course, as they 

 grow older you gradually give coarser grain and finally the whole grain. 



Grit and charcoal should be before them all the time — this is always 

 necessary with any kind of poul*^ry. 



Water must be where they can help themselves, but it should be in a, 

 fount such as will protect the young poults from getting wet. Turkeys 

 should always have a good supply of wate- 



TO FATTEN FOR MARKET— Give the turkeys free range, if pos- 

 sible, else they will "worry." At night, give them all the whole corn they 

 will eat. In the morning, give them a mixture as follows : six parts corn- 

 meal, three parts middlings, one part meat scrap, mixed with sour skim 

 milk. Do not let this get too soft and sticky, but make a good stiff mix- 

 ture. The last week of the fattening for market put the birds in darkened 

 coops and feed the following "cramming" ration, which you can make up 

 into pellets and feed by hand ; two parts cornmeal, two parts ground oats 

 (without hulls), one part middlings, one part scraps, mix to a stiff dough with 

 sour skim milk as before. 



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